Fortify Your Walls

Monday, July 22nd, 2013

I’ve been reading a lot of George R. R. Martin books in the last year or so. He’s the author of the series that has been made into a very popular HBO television show, “Game of Thrones.” This Saginaw dentist can’t speak for the TV show, but the book series is enthralling! The series of books is set in a middle age world of kings, knights and lords all scheming for power and status. Some of the most dramatic sequences of the book series take place during onslaughts against highly fortified castle walls. The lords can fend off most attacks in the comfort of their castle, so long as their castle walls hold up.

The enamel of your teeth is much like those castle walls. Many foods we eat either contain acid or are composed of nutrients that oral bacteria can convert into acid. These acids attack your teeth in the same way that Daenerys Targaryen’s dragons may some day strike at King’s Landing. The flame of the dragons’ breath will weaken the castle’s outer wall, making it more susceptible and eventually breaking holes into the wall.

The outer layer of your teeth is called enamel. It serves as the outer armor of the tooth, protecting the soft, vital parts of the tooth from harm. Your enamel is incredibly strong…in fact it’s the hardest substance in the human body. It’s made up of crystals of calcium phosphate called hydroxyapatite (HA). Enamel is very durable, but it’s not indestructible. It’s crystalline structure is susceptible to acid. The acid in our mouth can actually soak into the enamel crystals and eventually break them down, which can form cavities. As long as the damage isn’t too great, you can repair these crystals by remineralizing them with calcium phosphate naturally found in saliva.

What if you could magically rebuild your castle’s walls with bricks that were much stronger than the ones it was originally built from? Wouldn’t it be awesome if you could repair your enamel with something that made the already resistant crystals even stronger? Well, you can! Actually, you probably already are but you just don’t realize it.

“All hail fluoride!”

Topical fluoride found in toothpaste, mouth rinses and varnishes placed at your dental office is the magical ingredient we’re looking for. Using topical fluoride supercharges the natural process of remineralization (repair of acid attacked HA crystals). When the enamel incorporates fluoride into the HA crystals it’s actually stronger and more resistant to tooth decay than regular HA crystals. This is why most toothpastes contain fluoride and why dentists will often recommend prescription strength fluoride rinses and varnishes for patients who experience a lot of tooth decay or have reduced saliva flow. Each time you’re brushing your teeth or swishing a fluoride rinse, you should realize that you’re fortifying your defenses against the next siege!

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